Tampa Bay Buccaneers Complete Roster Diagnosis: Quarterbacks
By Rob Clement
Dec 22, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback
Mike Glennon(8) looks to pass the ball during the first half against the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kane-USA TODAY Sports
Quarterbacks
2014 Cap Number: $723,469
2013 Performance: Ranked 22nd of 28 quarterbacks who took over 50% of teams snaps with a rating of -8.2. For context, Peyton Manning scored +43.3, Tony Romo scored +11.0, and Eli Manning scored -7.4. While Glennon protected the ball well, throwing only nine interceptions in 461 attempts. He completed less than 60% of his throws for an average of just 6.3 yards per attempt. On film, you see that Glennon fell in love with the check-down and with Vincent Jackson. When watching film you can see marked improvement in Glennon throughout the season, he never once graded out positively in consecutive games.
While there were several highlight reel type plays made to Jackson in the passing game, there were several completions where Jackson bailed out Glennon. However, on the deep ball, Glennon was one of the more accurate passers in the league at 45.7% on attempts of 20 yards or more. This ranked only behind the two Super Bowl quarterbacks and fellow rookie Geno Smith.
2014 Cap Number: Unrestricted Free Agent
2013 Performance: Served as backup in 2013, saw only four snaps.
Positional Outlook for 2014
With Greg Schiano and Mark Dominick gone, there is no telling what may or may not happen with the quarterback position in Tampa Bay. Lovie Smith has never once committed to Glennon as his quarterback since being hired as the Buccaneers head coach. He has however made mention of needing a star player at the position to win Super Bowls. When both coach and general manager have no loyalty to a quarterback, anything is possible.
Smith, and offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford both have very strong relationships with Aaron Rodgers. Thus making the move to sign his younger brother Jordan Rodgers to a futures contract all the more intriguing. I watched a fair amount of film on Rodgers out of Vanderbilt, I hate player comparisons but if you squint real hard and were a little buzzed you could see a very poor homeless man’s Drew Brees from Purdue in his film. Realistically it is unlikely for Rodgers to compete for a starting job, but there has to be something to bringing him back into the fold after spending 2013 on the practice squad.
When looking for outside competition for Glennon, things get very interesting. With the seventh pick in the NFL Draft, it is unlikely that the Buccaneers would be able to get an elite quarterback without sacrificing another need. The fact is, Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater, and Blake Bortles could all be off the board by pick seven and the Buccaneers don’t have much ammunition to trade up in terms of draft picks. The one viable, and perhaps likely option for the Buccaneers is Fresno State’s Derek Carr who has said that he and Tedford are “like family,” with the Buccaneers offensive coordinator coaching his older brother David in college. I however believe that despite a good showing at the Senior Bowl, Carr is far from worthy of a top-10 pick.
A few intriguing options include the idea of bringing in Philadelphia Eagles free agent Michael Vick. While injuries and turnovers will always be a concern with Vick, he would provide excitement to an offense that was flat-out bad in 2013. Keep in mind, Smith’s mentor Tony Dungy has a very strong relationship with Vick since his release from prison a few years back.
The last and perhaps most favorable scenario is one nobody is really talking about. The St. Louis Rams are set to owe Sam Bradford over $17 million dollars against the cap in 2014. They currently hold the number two overall pick from the Robert Griffin III trade, and their own 13th pick. It is feasible that the Rams could fall in love with a quarterback early on in the draft and part ways with Bradford. Should that happen, the Rams would save roughly $10 million in cap space which would be very useful in resigning defensive stud Robert Quinn whose rookie contract expires after next season. While I am not 100% sold on the idea of Bradford as the savior for the Buccaneers, I can envision him being a far better option than almost every other one that may be available.
Without a doubt, quarterback is the most intriguing position for the Buccaneers this offseason. Exactly as it should be.